


hear the sirens calling/and the bombs are falling in the streets (we're all screwed)

by lesbianbean



Series: you want the world/well what's it worth? [18]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, American Politics, Gen, Kidnapping, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rule 63, Tentative alliances, crisis management, getting to know your gf's family, trine dynamics (but human)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:53:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23368747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbianbean/pseuds/lesbianbean
Summary: Starscream doesn't come back from a meeting. At first it just seems like she's late, which is normal. But as the hours pass, it becomes increasingly obvious that nothing about the situation is normal.
Relationships: Megatron/Starscream, Skywarp/Thundercracker
Series: you want the world/well what's it worth? [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1110879
Comments: 55
Kudos: 68





	1. Chapter 1

It had been a shitty day. Her meeting in Northern Virginia had run almost an hour too long, and then she’d needed to stop and get gas for her car, and _then_ she’d noticed a loose thread on her new blazer sleeve that had quickly turned into a hole. 

The gas station had her favorite packaged cupcakes, which made things slightly better. She was licking the crumbs off her fingers. And the traffic actually wasn’t terrible. Of course, the radio was droning on about the lunatic who had been mailing pipe bombs to people, which reminded her of her job and killed her sugar high. She needed to call Shockwave about what Congress was doing about it. Hopefully not another fucking press conference. She hated standing behind Shockwave and looking serious. 

Later, when she thought back on the drive, she wouldn’t be able to pin down when the unmarked vehicle first started tailgating her. She hadn’t thought much of it, because _everyone_ was a bad driver in the D.C. area. But then the car followed her when she changed lanes. And then she changed lanes, and the car did again. _Odd_. She slowed down. So did the other car. She accelerated. So did the other car. 

A pit began to grow in her stomach. _Just get back to your office._ She noticed the exit for the Beltway coming up and began to feel relieved. And then the strange car slammed into the side of hers and she skidded off the road.

Starscream was slammed forward, and then backward as an airbag exploded in her face. Her lungs burned as she tried to breathe. _Shit._ She needed to get out of the car now. Her right arm didn’t respond when she groped for the handle, and when she looked at it it seemed to be at a weird angle. Starscream struggled to move, managing to topple sideways into the car door, which popped open. She landed on the grass and struggled to sit up. _Where’s my phone?_ Her left arm was still functioning and she groped around, trying to find it. 

Footsteps were coming closer. _Fuck._ If she could just get on her feet, she could get into the street and signal for help. Or if she could get a hand on her phone--

Two boots came into her vision. She craned her neck up to see who it was but moving her head back sent a searing bolt of pain through her head and everything went black.

* * *

Megatron had finally hit her stride on responding to emails, which of course meant that at any moment--

“Senator.” 

“Yes, Soundwave?”

“I just received a call from Shockwave that was...concerning.”  
Megatron could hardly resist the urge to roll her eyes. “Is this related to Tarn’s bill regarding funding for music programs in schools? Because I told Shockwave--”

“Negative. It has to do with Starscream.”

“Really?” Megatron turned back to her computer, pulling up a new email window. “Does she have problems with the line-up for the press conference?”

“Shockwave said she wasn’t at the House congressional leadership meeting.” 

“Really?” Megatron looked up from her computer. “That’s odd. She basically pulled out all the stops to get a spot there. Should I call her?”

“Affirmative. It would be helpful for Shockwave to get an explanation.” 

Megatron nodded and dialed.

“ _Hi, you’ve reached Congresswoman Starscream, proudly representing California’s District 12--_ ”

“Well, that’s hardly surprising.” She dialed again. 

“ _Hey, It’s Starscream. If you’re getting this message it probably means I don’t want to talk, so, you know, leave a message. Or don’t”_

“She’s not picking up from her private number either.” Megatron sighed. “As soon as she’s back here I’m going to make sure she knows exactly how stupid she’s been.”

“Of course.” 

It didn’t make any sense to be worried. Starscream ignored calls all the time. “Soundwave, will you call Thundercracker? Tell her that Starscream should contact me as soon she gets back in.”

Soundwave nodded and returned to her office. Megatron sent the next hour trying and failing to get back into the soothing groove she had been in before, but she kept opening up new tabs and sorting through the papers on her desk. She told herself it wasn’t because of Starscream. 

It was her own fault for getting so involved in...this. Back when Starscream was her chief of staff she was nearly constantly at her side. And there was always a completely reasonable explanation for that. Ironic, she thought wryly, that having a secret affair with her chief of staff was easier than...dating a fellow congresswoman. 

_Dating_. The word felt odd in her mind, like a bottle of Starscream’s ridiculous rosé on her liquor shelf. She and Starscream weren’t doing anything that was different from what they had done before, except Starscream didn’t work for her anymore. They met up on evenings and on weekends, and Starscream had spent a week at her home in Texas that summer. She’d been hoping to ask her to do the same for her Thanksgiving holiday this evening--but apparently Starscream had decided to go AWOL. 

“Soundwave!”

“Yes, Senator?”

“Did you call Thundercracker?”

“Affirmative. She says she has not heard from Starscream since early this morning.”

Megatron reached for her phone before realizing what a stupid decision it would be to call Starscream again if she wasn’t answering her phone. 

“Soundwave, do you have that backdoor to the congressional license plate registry?”

“Affirmative.” 

“Run Starscream’s number. Make sure she’s not--up to something.”

 _In trouble_ hovered on the tip of her tongue but she wasn’t going to say it. She wouldn’t put it past Starscream to be doing something like meeting with those slimy black-hat lobbyists she’d told her not to mess around with. Which was probably what she was doing.

* * *

Thundercracker had devoured the bag of chips and packet of Twinkies that Rattrap had reluctantly brought her when she gave her a twenty, She was so hungry she was considering eating one of the instant hot chocolate packets in her desk. Starscream was supposed to have been back four hours ago. Four hours was essentially two years in Congress-time. During the time Starscream had been gone, she’d had to reschedule three meetings with senators, two with prominent activists, and one with a journalist who all but cursed her out when she called to cancel.

Starscream had occasionally been late and missed meetings before, but usually she at least shot off a text informing her when she would be back. Her phone buzzed. 

<Did you call Megatron, babe?>

<Not yet.>

<Why not? You know that’s probably where she is.> Skywarp accompanied the text with several inappropriate emoticons.

<Come on, Warp.>

<Look, if she’s blowing you off because Megatron is giving her the strap you deserve to know. You fucking moved here for her!>

Thundercracker affectionately rolled her eyes. <Fine.>

She dialed Megatron’s number, and then put her phone down. A half hour later, after sorting through three policy briefs, ordering a fruit basket for the journalist, and sending Rattrap out to pick up the weekly agenda that Shockwave had prepared for each House member, she reluctantly decided that she really needed to call. 

It wasn’t that she was afraid of Megatron. Well--Megatron was a frightening individual. Anyone with even a slight knowledge of the political world knew that. They hadn’t spoken much since she arrived in Washington, just exchanged a few pleasantries and a handshake. And of course, she’d seen Megatron discreetly slipping out of Starscream’s office on more than one occasion. 

“Leader Megatron, this is Thundercracker. From Starscream’s office?” 

“Thundercracker. How are things?”

“Fine, thank you. Um, how are you?”

“I’m doing all right. To what do I owe the pleasure?” 

She wasn’t sure how to bring up the subject delicately. “Is the Congresswoman with you?”

There was a noise that sounded suspiciously like the majority leader clearing her throat. “Why would you think th--”

“Senator, I don’t judge. My boss has missed six meetings today, and I just want to know if it’s because she’s with you.”

“Ah.” Megatron sounded impressed. Or maybe Thundercracker was just projecting. “Well, unfortunately I haven’t seen her at all today. I had actually hoped we could meet for lunch, after she got back from Virginia, but she didn’t answer her phone.”

“Really? She hasn’t answered any of my calls either.” There was another pause on the line, and Thundercracker realized they were probably thinking the same thing. She decided she wanted to be the one to say it out loud. “If she’s not with me or Skywarp, and she’s not with you, where is she?”

“She’s not with Skywarp?”

“Skywarp would have told me.” 

“How long has she been--”

“Almost four--no, five hours.” The irritation that Thundercracker had been feeling all day was beginning to curdle into something else. “All right. Could she have jumped on a plane to San Francisco?”

“Why would she do that without telling me-you?”

Thundercracker shook her head, and then realized that Megatron couldn’t see her. “I don’t know--I just spent the entire week setting up this meeting for her, it doesn’t make sense for her to just ghost us.”

“What does that--never mind. When was the last time you heard from her?”

“She texted me and said that she was in Alexandria meeting with that lobbyist and she’d be back in an hour.”

“How long ago was that?

“This morning.”

Megatron’s voice changed. “I’m--I’m going to need to call you back, all right?”

Thundercracker swallowed, trying not to panic. “All right.” 

“Stay calm. I’ll talk to you soon.” The call was terminated, and Thundercracker grabbed for her bag. She needed to call her wife and tell her that her sister was probably missing. Her pregnant wife, who was sitting at home with Buster waiting for her to call and had no idea that everything had suddenly gone to hell.

* * *

“Senator, may I suggest we--”

“What, Soundwave? Send up smoke signals? Fire up a Morse code machine?” Soundwave glared at her. “I’m sorry.”

“Accepted. What I was going to suggest is that we check the wrecks registered in the area and see if any of them match her car.”

“That’s a good idea.” Megatron buried her face in her hands. “I swear I’m going to kill her.

It took Soundwave another hour to but she pinned down three different red cars that had been in crashes in the tri-state area. None had Starscream’s license plate, which was something of a relief. She wondered if Starscream had just decided to go to San Francisco. _That has to be it_ , she thought. _Idiot. Probably getting drunk on a plane and ignoring her phone_. She reached for her cigarettes before remembering she had thrown them out last week when she had decided to quit again. 

“Senator.” Megatron looked up, startled to see that Soundwave was still in the room. She’d somehow gotten lost in her thoughts--what time was it anyway?

“Yes, Soundwave. What is it?”

“I have received a call from the Chairwoman of the Joint Chiefs.” The feeling of overwhelming dread in the pit of Megatron’s stomach grew. She took the phone from Soundwave. It was heavy and cold in her hand and she knew what she was going to hear even before Trailbreaker told her the news. 

“Where is she?”

“How did you--never mind. Listen, we don’t know much right now, but the president wanted you in the loop.” Trailbreaker paused. “For some reason. Anyway, she wants you and the Speaker in the Situation Room as soon as possible.”

Megatron hung up, handing the phone back to Soundwave. “Someone took her.”

Soundwave nodded. "When are we going to the White House?"

"Right now. Call Shockwave on the way over."

 _Starscream_ , she thought, the dread congealing into something dense and grey and icy that threatened to engulf her. _Stop it_. Panic wouldn’t bring Starscream back. And so she was not going to panic. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. I've never written a story like this, so I'm hoping that this works out all right. I can promise there will be a happy ending, because I understand we're in the middle of the apocalypse right now and the last thing anyone needs is more stress. In the meantime, please take care of each other and enjoy the story.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prowl's workplace stress levels go up roughly 78%. Megatron can barely resist the urge to punch someone in the face. Bumblebee finds herself wondering if the grad school credit she is getting is worth it.

At least once a week, Prowl got angry. Bumblebee liked to think of herself as someone who was good at waiting out the storm--her usual strategy was to hide behind the nearest piece of furniture and wait, which was what she was doing right now as Bluestreak, Prowl’s deputy, informed her about who exactly was coming to the White House.

“You did _what_?” 

Bluestreak took a step back. “It wasn’t my decision to call Megatron.” Prowl looked like she was going to burst into flames, and Bluestreak awkwardly cleared her throat. “Listen, I understand this wasn’t the call you would have made--”

“Oh, that’s a nice way of putting it. Did you think this situation really needed _more_ complications?”

“Prowl, I was the one who contacted the majority leader.”

“Madam President!” Prowl spun around to greet her boss, who had opened the door connecting her office to the president’s oval-shaped one. “I was unaware that you were the one who decided to inform Megatron of the situation.”

Optimus raised her eyebrows. “Do you not approve of the situation, Prowl?”

“Well, obviously you should be the one to make that call, Madam President, I just thought it might--” She paused. The president waved her hand.

“Go on.”

Prowl pursed her lips. “All right. Since you asked, I have concerns about your decision to ask one of your biggest political rivals--who happens to have a massive personal stake in this rapidly escalating crisis, I might add--to be involved in this project. This is already an unprecedented and extremely messy situation. Adding Megatron into this will only make it more so.”

“All right, Prowl.” Optimus rubbed her forehead. “I understand your concerns. However, we have currently agreed to work alongside Congress to combat MECH, and informing them that one of their own has been captured is a good-faith gesture.”

“But--”

“Additionally.” The president only raised her voice a hair, but Prowl instantly fell silent. “It is unlikely that we would be able to keep this information contained. By choosing to let the leadership know now, we control the flow of information.”

Prowl looked down at the floor. “I understand.”

“Can you imagine how Megatron would have reacted if we had known of this information and not informed her? Any hope for maintaining an alliance would be lost.”

Prowl snorted, and Bumblebee winced. Everyone looked over at her, and she waved from where she had wedged herself awkwardly into the space between the doorway and Prowl’s couch. 

“Prowl, I understand you would not have decided to try an work with Congressional leadership on domestic terrorism. But for better or for worse, it is the decision I have made, and so we are going to move forward with it. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Madam President.” 

Optimus squeezed Prowl’s shoulder. “Thank you for sharing your doubts. And Bluestreak? Next time, please feel free to throw me under the bus if you’re following my orders.”

Prowl and Bluestreak both nodded. 

Bumblebee’s phone buzzed sharply and she glanced down at it, “Um, Madam President? The Congressional delegation has arrived.”

“All right. Bee, will you escort them to the situation room? Prowl and I will meet you there. Bluestreak, you and Jazz are in charge of the response to the crisis--go get a statement ready and talk to the press before they start spreading rumors.”

* * *

The White House Situation Room was tiny and terribly lit, and currently everyone was standing up around the table because the president hadn’t sat down. Bumblebee suspected that the president wasn’t sitting because Megatron was refusing to pick a chair. Instead, she was standing close to the head of the table, glowering at President Prime, who was glowering right back. Prowl looked about ready to punch someone--whether it was her boss or the majority leader was debatable--and Soundwave was standing behind Megatron looking like she would rather be anywhere else. 

Bumblebee cleared her throat and immediately regretted it when everyone in the room turned to look at her. “Oh, sorry, I was just wondering if anyone maybe wanted some coffee? Or, um, tea?”

President Prime glanced over at her. “That’s all right, Bee. Well, actually, could you make sure that everyone has the briefing memo?”  
Bumblebee took a step towards Megatron, who shot her a truly terrifying look. “I have the memo.” 

Optimus’s glare intensified. “Don’t talk to Bumblebee like that.” 

“It’s fine, really--”

Megatron turned on the president. “Interesting, that you’re more concerned about Bumblebee than Starscream.”  
“That’s not what I’m concerned about and you know it--”

“Don’t tell me what I think.”  
“Don’t put words in the president’s mouth.” Prowl interjected.   
“Prowl, it’s all right--”

“--Look, she thinks she can just say anything--”

“--I’m right here, and I don’t appreciate you pretending to be up in arms about Starscream when I know that you don’t--”

“--Don’t presume--”

“--I’m hardly presuming--”

There was a sharp crack and everyone jumped. Soundwave had picked up a stack of paper and dropped it on the table. Prowl looked even more furious. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Observation: none of this is helping Starscream.”

Megatron actually looked chastised by that. She slowly sat down at the seat closest to the head of the table, and Soundwave took the seat next to her. Bumblebee awkwardly scooted into a corner, half sitting on one of the tables, watching everyone’s faces. 

Prime cleared her throat. “All right. Wheeljack, I believe you’ve got some information to start us off?” Wheeljack glanced over at Prime, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. A deer with a blue undercut. “Wheeljack?”

Wheeljack jumped a little. “All right, well--I’ve been tracking MECH on social media ever since the shooting on the Fourth.”

Megatron looked at Wheeljack like she had grown a second head. “How is this relevant?”  
Wheeljack adjusted her glasses, looking like she was contemplating breaking her tablet over Megatron’s head. “In general, groups like MECH do their organizing on websites like 4chan and 8chan. The traffic there has been elevated recently, in part due to the increased funding into online right-wing infrastructure, which serves as a pipeline into--”

Megatron put her hand firmly on the tablet Wheeljack was gesturing at. “Listen, I don’t need a rundown of your research project, I need to know how they got a hold of my--of Starscream.” Bumblebee noticed that Prowl looked absolutely murderous and she wished she was anywhere but in this too-bright room. 

“If you want to know, maybe you should--” 

Soundwave cleared her throat. “May I ask a question?”

Wheeljack sighed. “Sure. Go nuts.”

“Have you checked the traffic cameras around where Starscream was seen last?”

“Oh, that’s actually a good question!” Wheeljack visibly perked up, pulling up a map on the tablet. “All right. Our people did a scan of the traffic cameras in Northern Virginia along the route where Starscream was returning to DC, and around here...” She zoomed in on the map. “They glitched out. The police found Starscream’s car about a half mile away, The windows were broken and the licence plates were removed. Unfortunately it was wiped clean of prints.”

“Wonderful. Prime, you’ve got a real tight ship going.”

“All right.” Prowl pushed her chair back with a loud scrape. “Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Why the hell is she here?” 

Megatron slowly looked Prowl up and down, and Bumblebee was reminded of a video she’d seen of a cobra about to swallow a mouse. “Excuse me?”

Optimus stood up, her hands already up in front of her. “Prowl, we already spoke about--”

“This isn’t about that, although I’m right and I think you know it. But I’m talking about the other thing.”

Bumblebee instinctively scooted further back into the corner she’d wedged herself into, but Prowl didn’t budge, even though Megatron could probably snap her in half without breaking a sweat. “Be _very_ careful about where you’re going with this, or I swear you will not live another hour of your whiny, self-righteous little life.”

Prowl crossed her arms, unperturbed. “Listen, Senator. This White House does not let people who are emotionally compromised into this Situation Room. It interferes with the ability to make rational decisions.”

“ _Emotionally compromised?_ ” Megatron took a step towards Prowl, and Bumblebee wondered for a moment if there was going to be an honest-to-god fistfight in the Situation Room. 

“Enough!” Optimus slammed her fist down on the desk. “Wheeljack, Mirage, can you handle the rest of the briefing?”

Wheeljack cleared her throat. “Um, sure.”

Mirage nodded. 

“Excellent. Megatron, I’d like to speak with you. In my office.”

“I don’t think I’m the one you should be speaking with.” Megatron gestured at Prowl, who opened her mouth, and then shut it when she saw the look that the president was giving her. 

“I wasn’t suggesting.”

There was a long, very pregnant silence, and then Megatron leaned down and whispered something to Soundwave. Soundwave nodded, and then the majority leader swept out of the room. 

“Prowl.” The president opened her mouth, and then shook her head in resignation. “After this, we’re going to talk.”

Prowl nodded. “Of course, Madame President.”

* * *

_Soundwave avoided her eyes. “Starscream is known for having a bit of an...attitude problem. I didn’t want someone who has a personality that might be incompatible with your own.”_

_“You worry too much, Soundwave. Send her in.”_

_She heard the clicking of high heels on tile, and then the door swung wide, nearly breaking Soundwave’s nose, and a young woman swept in. “Do you make a habit of keeping your job candidates waiting for hours?”_

“Um, you really aren’t supposed to smoke in here.” Megatron turned to look at the speaker--it was Prime’s shadow. She was nervously smoothing her yellow sweater out. 

“Really? Why don’t you--”

“Thank you for your time, Bee.” Prime patted the younger woman on her shoulder. “Go see how Jazz is doing with the statement, please.” Bumblebee scurried out of the room. Prime turned to look at Megatron. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through--”

_She was in a hospital bed and Sentinel was looming over her, a cold smile on her face. “Anger is a normal part of the grieving process.”_

Megatron’s face burned. “Prime, so help me, if you’re going to try and pat me on the arm and give me a tissue box I _will_ kill you.”

Prime looked unperturbed. “Don’t let the secret service hear you say that.” 

Megatron gritted her teeth. “Your chief of staff was out of line.” 

“No, she was right.”

“Are you calling me emotionally compromised?”

“I’m not calling you anything. I’m saying that your relationship with Starscream is going to have an impact on the decisions you make in the room. How could it not?”

“You don’t know anything about Starscream, or me.”

“Not personally, maybe. But I know that when I’m in the situation room, I’m thinking about the congresswoman from California when I think about her. And that’s not what you’re thinking about, is it?”   
“You--” 

_Starscream crossed her arms, looking down at the office carpet. “I’ll do better. It was a mistake, Senator.”_

_“No, the mistake was trusting you to handle it. Get out of my office, I can’t stand to look at you.”_

“Megatron?”

“Fine.” Megatron gritted out. “That isn’t the only way I see her. But you can’t tell me you wouldn’t be the same way if it was Elita.” She swore internally. Even saying that was saying too much. 

_The girl was shifting uncomfortably, looking down into her wine glass. “What I said that night--”_

_Megatron reached out, trying to take her hand, but she shook it off. “--You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want--”_

_Starscream blurted it out all at once, looking at her with the same fierce determination she used when she was trying to convince Megatron to support one of her ridiculous policy ideas. “I love you.”_

Prime looked down at the plush dark blue carpet for a moment. “If it was Elita, I would be out of my mind with worry. Which is why the first thing I would do is invoke the 25th Amendment.”

Megatron half-laughed, putting her head in her hands. “I will never understand you, I swear.”

“I’m not asking you to understand me. I’m telling you why Prowl is worried about you being in the room right now.”

“Oh, you’re telling me?”

“Megatron, I’ve tried to be reasonable--” Prime crossed her arms, and for a moment she looked so much like her aunt that Megatron felt nauseous.

“I’m not asking you to be reasonable, Prime! Starscream is my person. She’s been with me forever, and you cannot expect me to believe that you’re so noble that you care as much about her as you do about your people.”

“Are you suggesting that I would leave her to die?”

“I’m suggesting that you and the rest of your team back there would care a lot more if it was one of your own who’d gotten grabbed by one of these monsters with a gun and an agenda. It’s what Sentinel taught you, right?”

Prime’s face darkened. “I’m not her.”

“Sure.”

“Listen, we agreed that it would be better to take on MECH together. That hasn’t changed.”

“That was before MECH, or whoever else took her, handed you a massive bargaining chip.”

The president sighed and sank down onto one of the Oval Office’s couches, rubbing her temples. “I would prefer not to explain this, but you also have an advantage. Do you seriously think that I would be able to get any of my agenda passed if a member of Congress got killed on my watch?” 

For a moment, Megatron’s rage and fear was replaced by an entirely different sense of irritation--the kind she felt on the rare occasion that her archnemesis made a good point. “You’re popular.”

“Not that popular. Megatron, if you don’t trust my morals, please trust that I wouldn’t torpedo my second term because I dislike you.”

Megatron wished she had a cigarette or a stiff drink. More than either of that, though, she wanted to be in her house in Texas, lying on her bed with Starscream sleeping next to her, safe. And that wasn’t going to happen if she didn’t work with the woman she hated. 

_You never make things easy, do you?_

_Oh, sure._ She could almost picture Starscream rolling her eyes as she responded. _I’ve been kidnapped and somehow this is still my fault?_

She sat down on the other couch and met the president’s eyes. 

“All right, Prime. What’s the course of action you’re suggesting?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone is doing well. Thinking about Prowl being horribly unsympathetic during a crisis made me feel a lot better--I hope it helps you too.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prowl explains herself to her boss. An old memory offers Starscream a possible escape. Skywarp tries not to give in to panic.

Prowl was the right-hand woman to the most powerful person in the United States. She had stared down countless journalists and lobbyists, steered the White House through a debt ceiling crisis and a government shutdown, and done vodka shots with the Russian prime minister’s security detail. 

Right now she felt like a child who had been sent to the principal’s office. 

Bumblebee popped out of the Oval Office. “Okay. She’ll see you now.”

“Thank you, Bumblebee.” 

Bumblebee nodded, giving her a look that clearly said _good luck_.

The president was sitting on her cream-colored couch with Roller’s head in her lap. 

“Madame President--”

“Now really isn’t the time for you to complain about dog hair on the couch.” Optimus stroked the dog’s head, and Roller thumped her fringed tail. Prowl swallowed nervously. 

“I understand.”

“Have a seat.” Prowl sat down on the other couch, smoothing her hands over her black polyester work pants. “You were out of line.”

“Yes, Madame President. ”

Optimus looked at her for a moment. “I kind of thought you were going to apologize, Prowl.”

Prowl looked at the carpet, and then back at her boss. “I’m not sorry. I was right.”

“Really.”

“Look, when terrorists took our soldiers hostage in Kazakhstan, we didn’t bring their family members into the SitRoom. When that lunatic put a gun to a doctor’s head in Oregon, we didn’t call the doctor’s mother in to give strategic advice. A sitting member of Congress has been kidnapped. It is completely illogical to ask her lover what we should do. This isn't a complicated situation, Madame President.”

“No, it isn’t. But if you were so convinced that Megatron wasn’t emotionally stable enough to be in the Situation Room, why did you decide that yelling at her was the best way forward.”

“Madame President, do you remember what Richard Nixon said to H.R. Haldeman?”

“Don’t start with that again.”

“You gave me book about Chiefs of Staff when you asked me to take the job. And in chapter one, it cites moment where Richard Nixon said to H.R. Haldeman, the first modern chief of staff, ‘I need someone to be my son-of-a-bitch.’”

“Prowl, I’m not Richard Nixon, and you’re not H.R. Haldeman.”

“Thank god for that. But the fact remains that Megatron was losing it in there and someone needed to be the one who pointed it out. I did it so you didn’t have to.”

Optimus sighed. “All right.”

“I am sorry if I made it difficult for you.”

The president chuckled, scratching behind Roller’s ears. “I thought the majority leader was going to take a swing at me. Not that I’d be any different if it were me in her position. She really loves her, you know.”

“Excuse me?”

“Megatron. You’re aware of that, aren’t you? It’s only the second or third worst kept secret in Washington.”

Prowl had to resist rolling her eyes. “Of course I’m aware of it.” 

“You think that’s irrelevant, don’t you?”

Jazz flashed into Prowl’s head for a moment, and she pushed the emotions that came with it down. “I’m not a romantic, Madame President. My focus is getting Starscream back home and pinning down the bastards who took her.”

Roller snorted, rolling onto her side, and Optimus looked down at her fondly, but her face darkened after a moment. She met Prowl’s eyes. “It was MECH, wasn’t it?”

“Yes. And Trailbreaker says she says she has more bad news.”

The president sighed. Prowl wasn’t sure what the look on her face meant. “All right.” She gently shifted Roller off of her lap, wedging a pillow in place so the dog wouldn’t be disturbed. “We need to get back to work. But before we leave, I want to remind you that you work for me, and the next time you have a strategy for dealing with Megatron, you tell me first.”

 _There it is_. “Of course, Madame President.”

* * *

Starscream’s hands were duct-taped behind her back, so she had no way to break her fall when she was shoved into a tiny cramped room and hit the wall. Her shoulder took most of the impact, and she blacked for a moment. When she came to, she was on the floor, with a broom on top of her. 

“Fuck.”

She sat up, wincing a little. After a few minutes of squirming, she was able to get her hands in front of her, which relieved some of the pressure on her shoulder. The tape was tight and the skin around her wrists looked swollen and raw. It hurt like hell.

“God, I want a fucking drink.” She rested her head on her knees, closing her eyes. 

_You’re okay. You’re fine._

She sucked in a deep breath and was immediately seized by a horrible coughing fit. It was probably a bad idea to think about how much mold was probably in this closet 

_People are looking for you. Right now, people are looking for you with technology that’s so advanced that it’s classified by the government. So you’re going to be okay._

It was cold, wherever the hell she was. She had no idea how long she’d been unconscious--this tiny closet could be anywhere. _Nope. Not going to think about that_. 

At least they had taken the tape off her mouth. She could breathe at least somewhat normally now. And she could talk again. Obviously it was ridiculous to care so much about something so much smaller than her shoulder or her wrists, but they’d taken her voice away and that was the only thing she fucking _had_. 

_Okay, Starscream._ She leaned back against the wall. _Be somewhere else. Anywhere else._

A week ago, Megatron had come by her new office to discuss something-or-other, and they’d ended up talking until almost midnight. Well, mostly talking. 

“We should do this at my office next time,” Megatron said, pulling a post-it out of her hair. “I have a much better couch.” 

“Do you know how long I’ve waited to have my own office in Washington? You’ll take my couch and like it.” 

Megatron sighed. “It’s an office, princess. Four walls and a roof. It doesn’t symbolize anything more than that.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it.”

“You’re cruel to me, princess.”

“How can you tell me symbols mean nothing when you keep a symbolic gun in a symbolic safe under your bed?”

“I keep it in my closet.”

“Like that’s any better.” Starscream wiggled out from under the cashmere throw she’d bought online and leaned over Megatron to grab her old-fashioned grey blazer off the floor, fishing around in the pocket for her wallet. “What do you want for dinner?” Instead of Megatron’s wallet she pulled out a small red leather box. “Ooh. What’s this?”

“Give that back.” Megatron tried to snatch it from her, but Starscream held it out of the way. 

“Is it something shiny?”

“Starscream!”

“I’ve told you I don’t respond to your ‘mean voice’ Megatron.” She sat up on the couch, straddling the older woman, and reached for the tiny clasp on the box. Megatron lunged at her, and they both toppled off the couch, landing on the uncomfortable carpet. “Ow! Are you serious?”

“You started it. Who told you you could go digging around in my pockets?”

“I was hungry! I wanted dinner.” 

“You could pay for it yourself.”

“You could bite me.” Starscream grabbed the red box from where it had skidded under her desk and snapped it open. The box was lined with black velvet and had a pin inside. It was a tiny silver thing, shaped like a dagger and decorated with tiny red gems. 

“Megatron, is this...”

“It was supposed to be a surprise for you when you passed the first bill.” Megatron rolled her eyes. “You’re like a magpie, you know? If there’s anything shiny in the vicinity you hunt it down and add it to your nest. Anyway, put your clothes back on so I can see how it looks on you.” 

_Hold it._ Starscream carefully put her head back on her knees, casually pressing her bound hands against her chest, carefully feeling around--there it was, pinned to her blouse. _Holy shit._ The pin was tiny, but the pointed end could easily punch through the duct tape around her wrists. 

* * *

Megatron felt like she was underwater. “How sure are you that it was MECH?”

Trailbreaker, the White House National Security Advisor, gave her an irritated look. “I wouldn’t be briefing the president if I wasn’t sure, Senator.”

Soundwave cleared her throat. “What Megatron means is, can you give us some more background information about why it was Starscream?”

“Oh.” Trailbreaker looked over at Wheeljack. “Jackie, do you want to take this one?”

Wheeljack shuffled through several of her manila folders and fished out a small remote, pulling up a complicated-looking web on one of the screens in the room. “All right. Well, I’ve been monitoring MECH channels since the shooting on the Fourth last year. Mirage and I concluded that while they have a broad range of people they hate, they like to target specific people online. I’m pretty sure you’ve all heard about the pipe bombs being mailed to prominent political and media figures around the country in the past week?”

“Oh my god.” The blood rapidly drained out of Optimus’s face. “I can’t believe I didn’t see this coming.” She turned to Prowl. “I need you to--”

“We’ve already informed the mayor of New York of the situation and they’ve doubled her protection.”

“What about Elita?”

“He’s in New York with her right now too. They’re fine, Madame President. It’s the first thing Jazz did when she heard what happened.”

“Excuse me?” Megatron tried to keep her voice level. “Are you saying that the people behind the pipe bombings are the ones who took Starscream?”

“Yes.” Trailbreaker folded her hands on her desk. “We’re categorizing this as an escalating act of domestic terror.”

Megatron felt cold. “So what’s your plan to get her back?”

“So why Starscream? She’s a first-term congresswoman. There are a hundred other people who they could have grabbed.” Megatron couldn’t keep the frustration out of her voice. 

“Senator--” She felt Soundwave’s hand on her arm. 

“Listen, Megatron.” Prime said solemnly. “It does not matter why they took her. What matters is we’re going to get her back.”

For a moment, Megatron was confused about Prime’s tone, and then it hit her. “You think they took her because of me.”

“No.” Trailbreaker. “Well, not entirely. Starscream is popular and relatively well-known, she would have been a target even without her close ties to a Solidarity Party leader.” 

“Close ties--” Megatron shook her head. “Never mind.” 

“We’ve shut down Union Station and all airports in the tri-state area. Mirage has briefed the National Guard and local law enforcement branches about who they should be looking for, and Wheeljack is monitoring social media. At the moment, we do not believe she has been taken out of the country.”

“That’s great, really.” Megatron said sarcastically. “You only have what, a little less than four million miles to cover?” 

“I understand you’re being sarcastic but it actually is good that we’re not going to need to get another country involved.” Trailbreaker said. 

Megatron caught Prime’s eye and bit back the insult she wanted to throw at Trailbreaker. 

* * *

When her parents died, Skywarp remembered that she had cried until the skin around her eyes cracked and stung. Starscream hadn’t cried at all--she’d barely reacted. Well, she’d been angrier than usual. Skywarp suspected she had broken down at some point, her sister was an emotional time bomb, but she hadn’t done it in front of her. 

_Starscream pressed a shot glass into her hand. Her sister’s mouth was pressed into a straight line, and she looked grimly determined. “Look. We’re all that’s left. We’re all that’s left of our family, and we’re all that’s left of Vos Airlines. We’re going to get through this. And we’re not going to fall apart.”_

“Hey, ‘Warp.” Skywarp shook off the memory and looked up at her wife, who was holding out a mug of something. 

“What’s that?”

“Tea.”

“I don’t like tea.”

“The doctor said no more caffeine.” 

Skywarp glared down at her stomach. “Seriously?”

“Seriously. I put in some honey, if that helps.”

Skywarp took a sip and winced. “It’s hot.” 

Thundercracker took it back. “I’ll put some ice in it.”

She turned and walked into the kitchen, and Skywarp curled up on the couch, wrapping one of the chunky knitted blankets her wife had made around her and squeezing her eyes shut. _You’re okay._ She had mostly blocked out the days and weeks after she got the phone call about her parents but now they were vividly replaying in her brain. She remembered the insomnia and nightmares, the constant phone calls from reporters, and downing expensive cocktails like they were juice boxes at the funeral reception. Out of the three of them, she had always been the one who never got hungover, but the day after the reception she’d been violently ill. But they had preserved their parent’s company. She remembered Starscream whispering _it’s done_ to her at the funeral. _Starscream_. 

“Here you go. Cooled for your convenience.”

“Thanks.” The tea actually tasted okay. 

“I added more honey.”

Something about that made the knot of emotion in Skywarp’s chest draw painfully tight. She felt her eyes burn and then overflow. “TC--I’m--I--”

“Hey.” She felt her wife’s arms around her. “I’m here. I’m right here.”

“I don’t know what to do. I can’t--I’m scared, TC.”

“I’ve got you. Just breathe.” Thundercracker took the mug out of her hands and put it on their coffee table. 

“What if she doesn’t--what if they can’t get her back?”

“She will.” Her wife rubbed a slow circle in between her shoulders. “She’s going to be complaining about being upstaged by our baby in no time.”

Skywarp hiccup-laughed. “God, she would.” She heard Buster snuffling and a moment later his wet nose pushed against her shoulder. “Hey, you.”

“Starscream is tough as nails, Skywarp. You know that.”

Skywarp wiped her eyes. “I don’t even know if they’re telling us the truth, TC. What if she’s already dead?”

“Don’t say that.” Thundercracker met her eyes. “She’s part of us, right? We’d know. I have to believe if she’s gone, we’d know.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to know more about the dynamic between American presidents and their chiefs of staff (including where I got the story about Nixon and Haldeman from), I recommend "The Gatekeepers," by Chris Whipple, it's a great and really informative read.  
> https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31158752-the-gatekeepers


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Starscream continues to work on her escape plan. Megatron gets a phone call.

The tape strained as she sawed at it. A trickle of blood was running down her wrist, and it hurt, in a sharp, intensely present way that overrode her throbbing shoulder and the bruise on her head and everything else that hurt. She kept working, moving her hand back and forth, gritting her teeth against the pain. It was just receptors firing in her brain. 

_Keep going_ . Everything would be easier if she could get her hands free. Back and forth. She adjusted her grip on the pin. _Keep going._ Back and forth. The tape shifted and she nearly screamed in pain, and then it gave and her hands were free. Starscream let her head fall back against the wall and slowly exhaled. She had done it.

In comparison to the agony of getting the tape off her wrists, the tape around her ankles was easy. _God_ , it felt good to have her hands free. She stretched, relishing the feeling of blood rushing back into her arms and legs. 

_Okay. Step one, done. Step two--get the door open._

Starscream pressed her ear against the door, listening. Her fingers itched to try the handle, but she forced herself to stay still and wait, to make sure the area outside her door was empty. After an agonizingly long wait that felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, she reached up to the knob. It was locked. 

A concentrated feeling of terror bubbled up in her, all the feelings she’d tried to keep down ever since she saw the car in her rearview mirror. She covered her mouth, trying to keep the horrified scream inside of her mouth. _Get yourself together. Get it together. No one is coming to save you, you have to get up and find a solution. Come on. There might be cameras, remember? So you need to move now_.

Her legs throbbed when she stood back up and she nearly fell right back down--one of her shiny red pumps had lost a heel. 

_Maybe I can break down the door?_ Or maybe...the lock seemed pretty flimsy. She examined it and then held up her pin. It looked a little battered but maybe she could shape it into a pick? 

It didn’t work on the first try. Or the second. By the fourth time, she was ready to bang her head into the wall. After the seventh, she threw the pin across the tiny closet and buried her head in her arms.

_“So, Senator, I got them to agree to pull the amendment if we accept a three percent spending cut on transportation.”_

_Megatron folded her hands on the desk and gave Starscream a piercing look. “Really.”_

_“Really. I know it’s not ideal, but we’re not in a great negotiating position this year and I think this is a reasonable compromise.”_

_“Reasonable?”_

_“Okay. You’re obviously pissed, I get that, but--”_

_Megatron held up her hand. “No. No, you’re not going to keep trying to sell me on this. You’re my chief of staff, not a vacuum cleaner salesperson.”_

_“Senator--”_

_“What did I say before I sent you out of my office to negotiate?”_

_“I really think that you’re being--”_

_Megatron stood up, her voice suddenly sharp. “What did I say?”_ _  
_ _Starscream sighed. “You said not to go below a one percent spending cut.”_

_“Good. So why exactly are you bringing me a plan with a three percent spending cut?”_

_“Because we talked for four fucking hours and this was the best we could do! Would you rather I walked away with nothing?”_

_“No, I would have preferred that you stayed until you had the results that we needed! I hired you because I thought you were willing to hold out until the bitter end. If I knew you were just going to give up, I would have left you in that hotel room in Texas.”_

“I get it, Megatron,” Starscream murmured, straightening back up and feeling around on the floor for the pin. “I’m not giving up.” 

The door opened on try number nine. 

For some reason, she’d expected to be in a basement--too many true crime podcasts, she supposed. But, it wasn’t a basement. It was an abandoned cabin. Starscream wrinkled her nose. _Gross_. The rustic furniture was covered in dusty grey plastic. Another, cleaner tarp covered what looked like boxes, next to a table piled with papers and laptops. Starscream slipped her battered shoe back on and walked as quickly as she could towards the door. Her legs were shaking. If she could just get out the door, maybe there’d be somewhere she could hide. She paused to steady herself on the table, cursing the stupid broken heel. 

_Wait._ She looked down at the table, and then scooted a few stacks of paper to the side, straining her ears for the sound of anyone coming. It still seemed quiet. She tapped on the laptop keyboard, but it was locked by a password. _Shit_. It was probably unrealistic to think someone had left their phone lying around. 

And then she saw _her_ phone, under one of the stacks of paper she’d moved. She grabbed it, fighting down the surge of giddiness. 

Wherever they were had no reception. Her giddiness evaporated.

 _Run. Just run, and you can worry about reception later_ . She went to slip her phone in her pocket, and then paused, remembering a true crime podcast she’d listened to a few months ago. A college student had been kidnapped, but they’d turned on their phone’s location services and been found only a few days later. _What the hell._ She pulled the phone back out, turned on location services and then opened the door. 

It was mid-afternoon. They were in the middle of a forest. Somewhere isolated. _God_ , she hated nature. At least the trees would provide her with some cover. She (reluctantly) kicked off her heels and ran. 

There was a shout behind her. 

_Shit._ She sped up, weaving between the trees. There were footsteps behind her, heavy ones, getting closer. _Goddamn it._ She stepped on something sharp and nearly fell, but adrenaline kept her going. A hand caught her elbow. 

“Where do you think you’re going?”

She brought back her hand and slammed it into where she thought the person’s nose was, and he let go with a shout of pain. For a moment, she thought she could still get away, but then there was the sound of footsteps behind her, and an electric shock scrambled her brain and she fell to the ground with a scream of pain. 

“You stupid bitch.”

She spat in his face--it was all she could do. And then he was twisting her arm, wrenching it and she screamed again, wishing she could cover her ears so she wouldn’t hear the sound it made, and everything went black. 

* * *

No one had expected the phone call. In the middle of a discussion about finding Starscream, the head of the FBI had called. 

“Someone called the tip line we put out regarding Starscream’s abduction. He is claiming to be with MECH.”

Prowl shook her head. “Bad idea.”

Wheeljack looked incredulous. “Why?”

“We don’t negotiate with terrorists.”

“If we can keep them talking for over a minute, I could get a trace on it.”

“You think they haven’t predicted that we’re going to do that?”

“It’s the best lead we’ve got and, as we’ve spent the past hour clarifying, we have no fucking idea where she is!”

Optimus sighed. “Wheeljack is right. We need more information, and we’re not going to get it by arguing. Patch them through.”

There was a burst of static and then a heavily distorted voice spoke. “Is Megatron on the line?”

Optimus’ voice was cold. “You don’t get to ask questions.”  
“I’m here.” Megatron spoke, ignoring the furious looks from Prowl and Wheeljack. “Where is she?”

“I’d admit, I had several ideas for who to take--you have to make backup plans, and I try not to get caught up in petty revenge plots. But after the Fourth of July, I’m quite happy we managed to grab Starscream. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to send you enough of her body for you to bury.”

Prime spoke before Megatron could. “The U.S. Government won’t be intimidated by the likes of you. I hope you know that.”

“You can’t intimidate an entity. But you can intimidate a person. Because everyone is intimidated with a gun to their head. Do you want to know what the congresswoman sounds like with a gun to her head?”

Megatron was pretty sure she could see Soundwave shaking her head in the corner of her eye, but her vision had gotten blurry. “I’m going to kill you.” Her voice was level, the same way it was when she put a gun to the head of her mother’s landlord or ordered Tarn to shoot the man who had put a brick through her window. “Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but you’re going to pay for what you’ve done.”

There was a pause on the other end. Wheeljack mouthed _ten seconds_ , and Optimus looked like she was thinking of what to say next. And then there was a sharp electric-sounding crack, and then a familiar voice cried out in pain. And the call cut off. 

Megatron knew that someone’s hand was on her shoulder, and they were walking down a fluorescent hallway, and then she was sitting on an uncomfortable bench and Soundwave was pushing a water bottle into her hands. 

“Drink.”

“Soundwave, that was...”

“I know. Drink.”

Megatron mechanically took a sip of the water. “He’s hurting her.”

Soundwave nodded. 

“I’m going to kill him.”  
“I will assist.”

Megatron took another sip of water. It tasted metallic. “Did they get the trace?”

Soundwave looked doubtful. “I will ask Wheeljack, but I am not sure.”

Megatron stared at the marble floor. “I don’t think I can be here. Or--I don’t think I should be here. Prime told me I couldn’t be objective, and I thought she was being ridiculous but as soon as I heard his voice, I couldn’t think clearly. And then I heard her...”

Soundwave sat next to her. “Have you spoken to Skywarp and Thundercracker?” 

Megatron looked at Soundwave. “What do you mean?”

“They are Starscream’s family. It is likely they would understand what you are going through.”

“What do you mean, going through?”

“Someone you care about is--”

“Do not say ‘gone.’”

“Missing. And you are afraid for her. Skywarp and Thundercracker are likely to feel the same way. You are not the only one who is concerned about getting her back.”

Megatron looked down at the plastic bottle. “Soundwave, we just walked out of a room full of people I wouldn’t trust to plan a sweet 16 birthday party who are deciding how to rescue Starscream. I can’t leave.”

“I will be there. Shockwave has just finished a press conference and is on her way.”

“Soundwave--”

“Take one hour. Go and talk to Skywarp and Thundercracker. And then come back.” 

Megatron shook her head. “I don’t know about this.”

“I will be in the room the entire time you are gone.” Soundwave’s stare softened for a moment. “And as I said, you are not the only one who is concerned about getting her back.”

Megatron remembered the hours the three of them had spent pouring over policy briefings and arguing about what to order for dinner. “I understand.”

Soundwave nodded brusquely. “Go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter's kind of short, but the next one will be longer. And, yes, Buster will be in it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skywarp and Thundercracker get an unexpected visitor. The White House tries to keep people from panicking, and a possible lead emerges.

CNN had a countdown clock labeled “Time Since the Congresswoman’s Abduction,” and Skywarp couldn’t stop staring at it as the numbers slowly ticked up. Skywarp couldn’t remember who the news anchor was--after a few days of watching the news, everyone sounded the same. “The congresswoman’s location is still unknown, as are the identities of her kidnappers. Several terrorist organizations have taken responsibility for the abduction, but the White House has not yet confirmed any leads. Additionally, suspicious packages were sent to the Secretary of State and PBS News’s world headquarters. It is unclear if-- ” The television clicked off. 

“Hey!” Skywarp struggled to sit up. “I was watching that!” 

“I thought I turned it off.” Thundercracker handed her another mug of tea.

“Where else am I going to get any news? It’s been hours since the White House called us.” Skywarp looked into the mug. “Jazz told me we would get regular updates.” 

Thundercracker sat down next to her, and Buster jumped up and wedged between them. “I can call her.” 

“Do you think she’d give us a straight answer? Or should we just go down there and picket at the gate until they let us in?”

Then there was a knock at the door and they both jumped. Buster barked enthusiastically. 

Skywarp put her mug on a stack of magazines and stood up, pulling a baseball bat out from under the couch. “Okay. TC, get in the kitchen and grab the biggest knife we've got.” 

“The Secret Service is watching our place, remember? I doubt it’s anything dangerous.” Thundercracker adjusted her glasses. “Let’s see.”

It wasn’t a murderer at the door. It was Megatron. 

"Hello, I just wanted to--" She looked at the baseball bat in Skywarp's hand. 

“Oh!” Skywarp dropped the bat with a clatter. “Senator! Or, um, Madame Majority Leader? Hi.”

Thundercracker took her elbow and gave Megatron a polite smile. “It’s an honor. Come in. Can I make you a cup of tea?” Thundercracker spoke the tiniest bit too loudly and then winced, and Skywarp could barely hold back a very inappropriate giggle. 

The senator nodded. “Yes, thank you.” Skywarp watched her wife disappear into the kitchen, leaving her alone with Megatron, and panicked. 

“I’m just gonna...I’m gonna help TC. With the tea. Um, excuse me. Have a seat.” 

Megatron nodded. She looked extremely out of place in their colorful apartment, like a streak of graphite on a watercolor painting. 

Skywarp slid the kitchen door shut and leaned on it. Thundercracker was spooning leaves into her tea infuser. “What’s wrong, honey?” 

“You shouldn’t have left me out there! Stress is bad for the baby.”

Her wife smiled wryly. “I think you’ll both live.”

Skywarp gestured vaguely in the direction of their living room. “Why is she here?”

Thundercracker shrugged. “I don’t pretend to understand the inner workings of the Senate majority leader’s brain.”

“You work for Congress!”

“Yes, on the other side of the building. And I tend to haul ass every time your sister and Megatron are in the room together.”

“I don’t--” Skywarp shook her head. “I can’t talk to anyone right now but you. I can’t even--she’s the only family I’ve got left, TC! And she’s gone, and I don’t know what to do, and the last thing I need is someone who fucked her up the way Megatron did.”

“I see.” Both women jumped and turned around to see Megatron standing in the doorway holding Buster, who looked ridiculously tiny in the crook of her elbow. 

“Senator!” Skywarp could feel the blood rushing to her face. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to--”

“It’s fine. I didn’t think, but of course, the last thing you would want right now was someone showing up on your doorstep.”

“No, it’s not that, it’s just--” Skywarp sighed. “I don’t know what exactly your relationship with my sister is? I don’t want to sound like an asshole about this but from my perspective, my sister showed up in San Francisco a year ago with a broken heart and refused to let anyone even _mention_ your name. Then she had a screaming match with you a week before election day and I couldn’t get a straight answer out of her about why, and neither could my wife, even though TC was her goddamn campaign manager. And _then_ \--” Skywarp threw her hands up, nearly knocking their take-out menu collection off the fridge. “Apparently you two made up, which, again, she didn’t tell me anything about, and now she’s fucking missing and you’re here and I know absolutely nothing about you. Which is stressful enough when it’s a political event or whatever but now--”

“Now she’s missing and you’re out of your mind with worry.” Megatron finished her sentence for her. “I understand.”

Skywarp took a step back. “I can’t believe I said all that to you.”

“Here you go.” Thundercracker held out a mug with a photo from their wedding day printed on it. “Oh, hang on. Give me Buster.”

“I can probably hold them both.” 

Thundercracker eyed Megatron’s arms in a way that would have made Skywarp jealous if she wasn’t completely assured of their relationship’s stability. “I don’t doubt it.” 

“Skywarp--” Megatron awkwardly handed Buster back to Thundercracker. “Listen, Starscream and I haven’t always had the most...normal relationship. But she’s very important to me. I --I care a great deal about her. There's nothing I wouldn't do to keep her safe.” Megatron took a sip of tea and winced. Skywarp was struck by how oddly lost she seemed. Thundercracker caught Skywarp’s eye and raised her eyebrows, and Skywarp relented.

“You should stay.”

Megatron looked like Skywarp had thrown her a life preserver. “I don't want to intrude.”

“You're not, I'm inviting you.”

“I shouldn’t--” Megatron looked down into the mug. “Thank you.”

* * *

Jazz could hear her phone buzzing from its home on her desk. It reminded her of a wasp nest. Or the hospital after Optimus was shot, but she didn’t like to think of that.

“Jazz!” Bluestreak practically ran into her office. “I’ve got Arcee’s office on line one. Also like, every news headquarters, and four governors and three mayors.”

Jazz couldn’t help herself. “They’re all online one?”

Bluestreak rolled her eyes. “Sure. It’s a very loud conference call.”

“Okay.” Jazz sorted the names in her head. “Get Arcee’s office on the line, send the news headquarters calls over to Sunstreaker, and...I’m going to put you on the governors and mayors.” Bluestreak nodded eagerly. “Bluestreak, don’t talk them to death, all right? And once you’re done with that, reach out to the leadership in any other state that’s been targeted in the past few weeks.”

“Good idea.” Bluestreak nodded. “What’s the White House’s statement?”

“That this is bad?”

“Jazz.”

“We want to know what they need first. Funding, security...I don’t know, comfort dogs? You know what Prime says--learn what people want and then make a plan, not the other way around.” 

“That’s much nicer sounding than the way I originally said it,” said a different voice. “Hello, by the way.”

“Hello, Madame President.”

"Greetings, team." Optimus walked over to Jazz’s coffee machine and poured herself a cup. “Trailbreaker is taking us to Defcon Three.”

“Oh.” Jazz had half-expected that, but it still made her feel sick to her stomach. “We’ve been getting a lot of calls.” 

“All right.” The president sighed. "Prowl is in the situation room." She half-smiled. "I think she's contemplating flipping another table."

"Well, that's on-brand for her." Jazz chuckled. “I think you should give an address from the Oval Office.”

Optimus made a face. “Wouldn’t it be better to hear from experts on domestic terrorism? I don’t want to seem like I’m capitalizing on the situation.”

 _Classic Optimus_. “Look, the country doesn’t want to feel abandoned. You don’t need to be throwing yourself in front of the camera every day--we’ll put together a team of experts to help in press briefings, but also need to hear from you.”

* * *

Megatron snorted. “So after all that you ended up as--”

“The owner and operator of a successful roller derby rink, yes.” Skywarp grinned, and even though she looked exhausted, it was so genuine it caught Megatron off guard. “I didn’t expect it, but there you go. And god, Screamer tore me a new asshole. Like she’s so responsible and mature. And you know what? It ended up turning a profit!”

“I think she was concerned about brand integrity.” Thundercracker fished a pretzel out of the colorful glass bowl of trail mix on their coffee table and fed it to Buster. “You two were trying to run an airline.”

Skywarp snorted. “Yeah, our airline’s ‘brand’ was 80’s corporate debauchery, and then a violent assassination. Not exactly what you want to associate with safe transportation.” 

Megatron noted her word choice. “So it was an assassination?”

“Oh, most definitely.” Skywarp and Thundercracker exchanged an incredibly loaded look. “But they got theirs.”

Megatron drained the last of her tea. “I’d be interested to learn how that happened.”

Skywarp looked over at the clock. “I mean, if you want to stick around for a little longer--”

“Warp.” Thundercracker interrupted. She was staring at her phone with a horrified expression. “What’s wrong, babe?”

“There’s--the people who took Starscream released a video online.”

Megatron felt her stomach drop like she was on a plane that was nose-diving straight into a hurricane. “Show me.”

“I don’t think you want to see this.” 

“Show me.”

The video was short--it looked like it had been taken on a phone. A figure was tied to a chair and holding a newspaper with the day’s date on it. _Starscream._ There was a hood over her head, but Megatron could see that she was holding herself oddly like she had injured her shoulder or her side. She was flanked by two men in ski masks. 

“Our name is MECH,” a heavily distorted voice announced. “We are an organization dedicated to draining the rot and corruption from the United States and reopening the county to the real Americans--the ones who built this country. They have suffered too long under the despotic rule of representatives like this congresswoman.”

One of the men yanked the hood off Starscream’s head, revealing her face. Skywarp gasped, and Megatron felt sick to her stomach. Starscream had a purple bruise on her cheekbone and the right side of her face was badly scraped up. “This is proof of life,” the voice continued. “MECH is demanding a ransom of eighteen million U.S. dollars for the congresswoman’s safe return. You have twelve hours to respond. If you do not provide this ransom, we will execute the congresswoman. We will do it live, so you can watch what happens to anyone who defies us.”

The video cut out and Thundercracker dropped her phone on the coffee table with a clatter. Buster whimpered. Skywarp made a noise that was somewhere between a sob and a gasp, and Thundercracker reached out to comfort her, but Skywarp shook off her arm, running out of the room.

“I have to go.”

Thundercracker grabbed her arm. “Whenever they have a plan in place you have to make them call us, all right? They’re not going to get us otherwise. I need to know someone there hasn’t forgotten about us.”

* * *

“So that’s their plan,” Ironhide said dryly. “A hostage video as a shot, and then an execution as the chaser.” She took a sip of her coffee and made a face. “Good lord, the coffee quality has declined around here.” 

Megatron’s nausea was quickly replaced by fury. “Why don’t you do the world a favor and quit talking?”

Ironhide slammed her cup on the desk. “Why don’t you stop acting like we’re not moving heaven and earth to get her back?”

“Oh, you’re moving heaven and earth? I didn’t notice. Guess I was distracted by your complaining about the coffee.”

“Get off your high horse--”

“Both of you shut up,” Shockwave spoke this time. Her voice was level. “We have twelve hours. Starscream is a congresswoman. I am the Speaker of the House, and her safety is my priority. Could we move forward?”

Chastised, Megatron looked at Ironhide. “I apologize.” The words tasted wrong in her mouth. 

Ironhide looked equally discomfited. “I also apologize.” 

Megatron looked at the screen replaying the video. Starscream’s face was obscured, but she recognized her hands. Her red polish was chipped, and one of her fingers was swollen l. And she was--what was she doing? 

“Wheeljack?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you back this video up about five seconds? And zoom in on her right hand?”

“Sure.” Wheeljack looked a little confused. “No problem.”

Starscream’s hands were still on the paper. Her fingers were all rigidly sticking out, except for her middle finger, which seemed to be tracing different shapes. Megatron stared for a moment, hypnotized. 

“Um, Senator?”

“What is she doing?”

“It could just be a nervous tic.” Mirage squinted at the video. “But...”

“She could be trying to send a message.” Wheeljack grabbed her laptop. “Okay, I’ve got this program that could work. Hold on.” A moment later, the path Starscream was tracking was highlighted in yellow. A sweeping curve, sharp angles, a dash, and then two straight lines. And then the same pattern again. And again. 

“It looks like she’s writing something.” Megatron thought about Starscream’s awkward, cramped handwriting. “Could it be--”

“I’ve got it, Senator.” Wheeljack wiped the screen, leaving the yellow scribbles on a black background. She clicked around, dragging the shapes apart. “Looks like we’ve got a C, and an A or an E, and two lines that could be the letter ‘L’ or the letter ‘I’.”

“So either ‘call,’ or ‘cell.’ ” 

Soundwave stood up and walked closer to the screen. “Is she trying to tell us to look up her phone?”

“Her phone was shut off.”

Soundwave met Megatron’s eyes, and Megatron nodded, turning to Wheeljack. “Check again.” 

Wheeljack nodded and hit a few keys on her laptop. “Holy shit.” 

Megatron leaned over her shoulder. “What?”

“I’ve got a location in Virginia.”

“Starscream is there?” 

“Her phone is there. She might not be. But it means we have a lead.”

“I’ll be damned.” Ironhide shoved her chair back. “Let me get the boss in on this.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I gotta admit, our current national nightmare has not been great for my muse, but I will keep trying to post chapters, although it might not be every week on the dot. Thank you so much to everyone who left kudos and reviews I read all your reviews and appreciate them and also you <3


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The White House weighs whether or not to carry out a possibly dangerous operation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter specific warning for gendered slurs and violence (if you don't want to read that, stop reading after the third break, where the story switches to Starscream's POV.

“All right,” Prime said seriously. “Walk me through this again.” 

“When the congresswoman was taken, her phone signal cut out, which was unsurprising--we assumed they had destroyed her phone or gone somewhere off the grid. But then, upon further examination of the hostage video, we realized that Starscream was signaling this.” Wheeljack clicked to the next slide. “

“She’s saying ‘call cell?’” Prime said.

“Yup.” Wheeljack switched to a third slide, this one showing a map. “Turns out that somehow her phone’s location services have been activated. We got a ping in Floyd, Virginia. Satellite footage shows an abandoned cabin smack in the middle of the woods about a quarter-mile away from the signal, and scans indicate that there are currently five heat signatures in that cabin.”

“And we know there are at least three people with Starscream.” Mirage chimed in. “We saw two in the video and there was one speaking behind the camera.”

“How sure are you that she was signaling something?”

Wheeljack played the close-up of Starscream’s hand again. “Look at how still her other fingers on that hand are. Her left hand is shaking, but all her fingers on her right-hand except for her middle finger are still. And she keeps making the same motions over and over.”

“And it is in character for her.” Shockwave “Starscream is the kind of person who makes backup plans.”

“Run the clip again.” Prime watched it silently and then turned to Trailbreaker. “How sure are you that this is legitimate? Give me a number.”

“Seventy percent.” 

“Hm.”

Megatron cleared her throat. “We have nine hours.”

“I don’t want to send recovery agents into a dangerous situation unless I’m absolutely sure that we can get everyone out alive.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful. Maybe we should just start a talking circle with them. We can all hold hands and talk about our feelings--” Soundwave shot her a severe look, and she cleared her throat. “Excuse me. What I meant was that we have a limited timeline and--”

“No, you’re not wrong,” Prime said. “Although you could have been less...you about it. Trailbreaker, can you have a plan together in a half-hour?”

“Yes, Madam President.”

“All right. We’ll talk about it then.” Prime looked over at Megatron. “ I need to speak with you privately.” 

* * *

“No.”

“I haven’t even started talking.”

“Megatron--”

“I know what you’re going to say and no, I don’t want to sit down and have a conversation right now.”

“Listen, this is a delicate situation.”

“No.”

“You’ll be informed as soon as we have come to a decision.”

“I need to be there, Prime! This is probably the only chance we have to get her back and I’ll be damned if I’m not in the room making plans for how to get her back.”

Prime rubbed her temples. “Fine. I don’t like to do this, but you leave me no choice. Take a look at the seal on the carpet.”

“Prime, I’m not--”

“What does the seal mean?”

“I know what the seal means.”

“Then you understand that I am the president and commander-in-chief. Elected by the people to deal with a security crisis.”

“You’re in Article II of the Constitution. I am in Article I. I trust you know how to count?”

“Starscream is part of the House, not the Senate. I trust you know what part of Congress you represent?”

“Prime, I swear--” Megatron sucked in a deep breath and forced herself to relax, Her fists were clenched so tightly that sharp pain was shooting up her arms. “This isn’t a budget meeting. I’m not interested in negotiating.” 

“I’m not negotiating. You are in my White House, on my invitation, and I currently am in a position where I can’t trust you in my situation room. The reason you are still here is because I respect you and I know you are concerned about someone you care about. But if you keep pushing me I’m going to have no choice but to have you escorted out of the White House.”

Megatron snorted. “You respect me. Next, you’ll tell me you have some very promising real estate in a swamp somewhere that you want me to invest in.”

“I did take a bullet for you.”

“You’re a saint. You would have taken a bullet for anyone.”

Optimus half-laughed. For a moment she looked very tired. “I’m no saint, Megatron.” 

“Soundwave stays.”

“All right.”

Megatron remembered Thundercracker and Skywarp. “You need to order a car for the rest of her family too. They deserve to be here.”

“Fine.”

Megatron turned to leave, and then paused for a moment and turned back. “And you should know this. Starscream is worth more to me than my professional relationships with any of you idiots. She’s worth more to me than money, influence, or power. The only reason that I’m not going to Virginia to get her myself right now is that I’ve made the decision to trust that you and your cabal of do-gooders are halfway capable at your jobs. If you prove me wrong, I will burn you and this administration to the ground. Get her back.”

* * *

Thundercracker had hoped the first time she visited the White House would be for an award ceremony. Or an important dinner. Or something that wasn’t her sister-in-law being kidnapped. 

“So I’m taking you to the Mural Room,” Bumblebee said as they walked down the hall. “Um, the president will be in to talk with you in a minute. In the meantime, you can just--”

Skywarp waved impatiently. “Do they know where my sister is yet?”

“All I know is that the president wants to talk to you.” She pushed open a door. “The majority leader is also here.”

Thundercracker had seen the White House’s Mural Room on television before. Her first thought was that the real version was better lit. Megatron was sitting on one of the canary-yellow couches by the antique fireplace, but she jumped to her feet when she saw them come in. 

“Good, you’re here.” 

Skywarp squeezed Thundercracker’s hand. “What’s going on, Senator?”

“There might be a plan to get her back.” 

Thundercracker was going to hold out her hand for a handshake, but Skywarp moved first, pulling the senator in for a hug. Megatron looked startled, but after a moment she returned it. The look on her face was surprisingly vulnerable. 

Bumblebee cleared her throat. “I can get you something to drink?” Megatron and Skywarp jumped apart, and Thundercracker suddenly felt the defensiveness that usually only applied to her wife, Buster, and Starscream (most of the time) expand to Megatron, a woman who could probably kill her with a paperclip.

“We’re good, thank you.” 

Bumblebee backed out of the room, closing the door behind her. They sat down on the couch, and Thundercracker put her arm around her wife. “Where are we, Senator?”

“Starscream signaled us.” The faintest hint of pride crossed Megatron’s face. “She wanted us to know that somehow, the location tracker for her phone had been turned on. It went off near an abandoned cabin in Virginia.”

“Is she there?”

“We’re not sure.” 

“But it’s her phone, and the video...” Skywarp trailed off. “I guess it could be a red herring.” 

“Exactly.” 

“But if there’s even a chance, how can they leave her?”

Thundercracker squeezed her hand. “Honey, it’s a difficult decision.”

“So what? This could be the only chance to get her back.” 

Another voice spoke up from the doorway. “I understand your frustration.” 

“Madam President!” Thundercracker half-stood, but the president raised her hand. 

“Please, stay seated.”

Skywarp looked between Thundercracker and Megatron. “What’s going on?”

“After much consideration, we’ve decided to go forward with the rescue mission.” President Prime’s voice was solemn. “I know that this looks like a chance, and I don’t want to destroy the hope you might have, but these missions can go south quickly. We’re going to do everything we can to bring Starscream home, but it’s extremely dangerous. I’m not going to promise she’ll be safe, because I don’t make promises I can’t keep.”

Megatron snorted, and before she realized what she was doing, Thundercracker shot her a look, just like she would have done with Starscream or Skywarp. For a moment she thought Megatron was going to kill her, but instead, Megatron cleared her throat awkwardly. “I apologize.”

The president raised her eyebrows for a moment before her face smoothed over into her usual serious expression.

“Apology accepted, Senator.” 

Bumblebee stuck her head in the room. “Madam President, you’re needed.”

“Thank you, Bumblebee.” President Prime stood. “Please, stay seated. Someone will come to speak with you as soon as we have news. In the meantime, Bumblebee can get you anything you might need.”

Thundercracker surprised herself by standing and holding out her hand, which the president shook. “Thank you.”

“I’ll speak with you soon, hopefully with good news.” 

Megatron met her eyes as she sat back on the couch and put her arm around Skywarp. “How exactly did someone like you end up with these two?”

Thundercracker thought about sophomore year in high school, English class. Starscream had barked _hey, new kid,_ and pointed at the seat next to her. Thundercracker had been so sure that she would be alone all day. She thought about Skywarp kissing her in the front seat of her first car, and she wondered how to say that they felt like pieces of her without sounding overly dramatic. 

“It’s a long story.” 

“I’d like to hear it sometime.

* * *

“All right, Strike Team Omega should be in position in five minutes.” Trailbreaker folded her hands on the Situation Room table.

“Can you get any images of the congresswoman?” said President Prime. “The building has windows, correct?”

“They’ve been boarded over, but the heat scan is picking up four bodies in the house. ”

“All right.”

“Let me walk you through the plan--Operation Blue Dawn. We have ten operatives situated around the cabin. Once you give the go-ahead, we’ll send two of the team members through the front door and have three more go through the back door and the windows. Three more will cover the entrances and exits, and the final two will step in as backup as any of the other members go down. Their intention is to incapacitate the MECH operatives and recover Dragonfly.”

Prowl spoke. “What if they try to shoot her?”

“Our team has recovered hostages who were held at gunpoint before, but these situations are always touch and go. If you want, Madam President, we also have Operation Ridge Rock, where we have a trained negotiator approach the cabin with a bullhorn, but...”

“But that gives up the element of surprise, which is the best tool in our arsenal right now.” Prime finished the sentence for her. She sat still for a moment and then turned to Soundwave. “Do you have a recommendation?”

Soundwave would never have admitted it, but the president’s request surprised her. “Why do you ask, Madam President?”

“You have a good strategic mind. Tell me, would it be wise to send in a negotiator, or should we go forward with the rescue?”

Soundwave looked down at the paper in front of her for a moment, not really seeing the words. 

“Soundwave?”

“I am not telling Megatron that you asked me this question. So if you are hoping this will result in a debt--”

“That isn’t why I’m asking.”

“I think you should go through with the rescue mission.” 

“All right.” The president nodded at Trailbreaker. “Do it.”

“Raven One, copy.”

“Copy Raven One.”

“We’re a go for Blue Dawn.” 

* * *

Starscream’s mouth tasted like old metal. Her head felt like it was splitting open--she knew she was dehydrated--they hadn’t given her any water since her ill-fated escape attempt. _I’m not going to die_ , she told herself, but the words felt hollow. 

“Hey.” Someone clapped in front of her face and she winced. “Look at me, you stupid cunt.”

Starscream deliberately focused on a point over the man’s shoulder, and the man clapped again, louder. “Come on. Look at me.” When she didn’t, he slapped her so hard that her chin hit her shoulder. Her head throbbed. 

“You’re going to die, you know? And I’m gonna be the one to do it.”

“Really.” Starscream barely recognized her own voice. 

“We’re gonna cut you open, and we’re gonna do it on screen, so everyone can see. Your sister. That senator you’re fucking.”

Starscream rolled her eyes, even though it made her head hurt more. “Are you going to cackle evilly and kick puppies too? Look, I’m not fucking scared of you, and I won’t be, no matter how much you twirl your mustache. I’ve dealt with posturing insecure wannabe alpha males before. You think you’re terrifying, but you’re pathetic.”

“I’m gonna--” The man grabbed her by the throat, choking her, and for a terrifying moment Starscream thought she had miscalculated. 

“Are you crazy, Jim?” Another one of her captors yanked the man away from her. “You know what orders are--she’s gotta stay alive until we make the video.”

Starscream smirked at her assailant, who jumped to his feet and glared at her. “No one disrespects me like that!”

“Fine. But do something that won’t damage her face.”

The man--Jim-- grabbed something off the table. Starscream barely had a second to think _shit_ before a white-hot electric shock scrambled her brain. She instinctively pulled away, and the chair she was tied to tipped back. There was a gut-wrenching moment of vertigo and then she slammed into the wooden floor. Someone kicked her in the stomach and acid boiled up in her throat. She choked and struggled to sit back up, and then another electric shock shot through her and she screamed through gritted teeth.

 _I’m going to die._ The zip ties were digging into her wrists and she couldn’t breathe. 

And then there was a sharp _crack_ and she flashed back to the fourth of July and the president collapsing on the stage. 

“What the--”

“FBI! Freeze!”

Starscream heard breaking glass and the sound of wood planks snapping. 

“Hands above your head! Get on the ground! Get on the ground now!”

There were more gunshots and Starscream wished she could fucking cover her head. She tried to scoot across the room to hide, but the sound of bullets and breaking glass seemed to be coming from everywhere. 

When the silence came, it somehow seemed even louder than the gunshots. 

“Congresswoman?” Hands were on the chair and she flinched, but then something cut through the zip ties and her hands were free, and then her legs. The agony of the blood rushing back into her limbs was exquisite. She struggled to stand up, and someone grasped her elbow. Her first instinct was to fight back, but she was too weak, she could barely struggle. “Congresswoman, I’m with the FBI. You’re safe now.”

The cabin was a mess of papers and diamond-bright shards of broken glass and dull splinters of wood, full of soldiers in heavy black armor with guns. One of the MECH members was lying on the ground with a dark puddle growing beneath his head, and the three others were handcuffed, face down. Starscream took a hesitant step away from whoever had helped her up. 

“Congresswoman?” She squeezed her hands into fists and walked over to Jim, handcuffed next to the broken table that used to have a computer on it. “Congresswoman, we need to get you to a doctor.”

Starscream ignored him and grabbed the back of Jim’s head, pulling him up for just a moment to look at his face, and then letting go. His head hit the ground with a _thunk_ and she kicked him as hard as she could, and then kicked him again. 

“Congresswoman!” Whoever had helped her up grabbed her again and she struggled fruitlessly. 

“Let me go!”

“Starscream. It’s over. Come on, we’re getting you out of here. You’re going home.”

Starscream could hear herself laughing, or wailing, but it felt like it was very far away. It wasn’t until she was in the ambulance that she realized that her cheeks were wet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you skipped past the page break--Starscream was successfully rescued.  
> We're close to the end! Fair warning, the aftermath to this story took on a life of its own, so it is probably gonna be its own fic down the line. But of course, this one will still have a conclusion. This chapter was fun to write--I hope you all enjoyed it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone tries to cope with the changed situation.

Megatron hadn’t been in a hospital since the Fourth of July shooting, and the moment she stepped over the threshold her skin had started to crawl. 

_It’s a building. Four walls and a roof. It has no power over you._

“She’s in the trauma center,” a Secret Service agent told them. “They’re treating her, but the doctor said it would be all right for her to receive visitors.” 

“Okay,” Skywarp said softly. “Let’s go.”

The ride up the elevator was tense. Skywarp was nervously squeezing Thundercracker’s arm like she thought someone was going to tell her that there had been a mistake and Starscream wasn’t really there. Megatron wanted to say something to make her feel better, but she didn’t want to breathe in any more of the stale antiseptic-scented hospital air than necessary. 

The elevator doors swept open with a _ding_. “Okay, right this way,” said the agent. The sound of their footsteps on the vinyl floor seemed louder than usual. Megatron remembered Sentinel’s footsteps in her hospital room, a hand pressing her down into the hospital bed, pictures of Starscream’s dead body. She shook her head. _Impactor’s_ dead body. 

“Megatron?” Thundercracker was giving her a worried look. “Are you all right?”

Megatron nodded. “I’m fine. Let’s go in.”

“Come on.” Skywarp led the way into the room, pulling Megatron and Thundercracker with her like unenthusiastic dogs at the park.

Starscream was sitting up in her hospital bed, and for a moment all Megatron could see was her face, her eyes, which were bright and perfect and _alive_. 

“Screamer!” Skywarp bolted across the room to the bed. Thundercracker followed at a more sedate pace. “Oh my god, it’s really you.”

Starscream raised her eyebrows. “Were you expecting someone else?” Her normally loud high-pitched voice was hoarse.

Skywarp laughed weakly, smoothing the hair out of Starscream’s face. “You’re such a fucking idiot.”

“At least tell me I upstaged your spawn?”

“Not a chance,” Thundercracker said dryly, leaning past Skywarp so she could squeeze Starscream’s hand. “If that was your plan, it failed miserably.” 

“Damn.” 

Skywarp started to laugh again but it morphed into sobs. “I didn’t—I’m so glad you’re okay, I thought—I thought you were—” 

“Please.” Starscream waved her hand dismissively. A white bandage encircled her wrist like a cuff, or a bracelet. Megatron’s vision went red for a moment. “You know I’m immortal.”

“Don’t fucking _joke_ about this!” Skywarp moved to swat Starscream on the arm, and then a look of horror crossed her face as she realized that she might have hurt her and she started to cry harder. Starscream sighed and wrapped an arm around her sister’s shoulder. Thundercracker leaned closer, covering Starscream’s hand with her own. 

Megatron felt oddly frozen in place. She couldn’t stop looking at Starscream, at the cuts on her face and bruises around her throat. The hospital lights were oddly bright, and she swore she could hear them buzzing. 

_“Oh god. Impactor, stay with me, okay? Just—” She reached for her belt, even though she knew a tourniquet wouldn’t do much—there was so much blood and she’d seen enough injuries to know that Impactor was going to die._

“Um, Megatron’s been over at our place a few times. She’s here too, actually.” Skywarp beckoned to Megatron. Megatron tried to take a step forward, but her legs wouldn’t move.

“Oh, you’re here,” Starscream said, not meeting her eyes. “Great. I hope you know my skin doesn’t usually look like this, I just haven’t been able to moisturize.” Skywarp looked like she was going to start crying again and Thundercracker winced, but Starscream didn’t look away from Megatron. There was something on her face that Megatron recognized, but couldn’t place. “What, you’re not even gonna give me a pity laugh? I got tortured, you should be nice to me.”

Skywarp buried her face in her hands and Megatron swallowed hard. “I am--I am glad you are all right, Starscream.”

Starscream laughed, but there wasn’t much humor in it. “Great.”

There wasn’t enough air in the room. And the walls--they seemed to be closer together. She could hear Sentinel’s voice like she was right behind her, whispering in her ear. “ _A shame. You were one of our best. Now we’ve lost you and your partner.”_

Megatron didn’t remember turning around or walking down the bland hospital hallway--the next thing she remembered was cold October air in her lungs. For a long moment, she just stood and breathed, trying to purge the hospital scent from her lungs, and then she pulled out her phone, dialing almost on autopilot. Soundwave picked up on the first ring, the way she always did. “Megatron. How is Starscream?”

“She’s...recovering.” There was a tiny green space in the traffic circle by the hospital, and she walked towards it, more to have somewhere to go than because she wanted to go there. 

“Are you with her?”

“No, I’m outside. That’s not what I called you about. Where are they keeping the people from MECH?”

“I believe they are currently in a federal holding facility.” 

“How soon can you get me there?”

“Excuse me?”

“What, you thought I was going to let Prime and her cabal of do-gooders handle the interrogation?”

“Megatron.” Soundwave hesitated for a moment before continuing. “Are you saying you want me to get you in to interrogate the MECH agents?”

“Yes. Did I not make that clear? Silas is still at large. If we play this right, we can nail him and his brother to the wall. Who knows what was in that cabin? If any of the evidence ties FracTech to what happened we could have Bishop charged. We could get him, Soundwave!”

“Megatron--”

“Prime will blow this, you know she will! And those bastards will still be out there, just _waiting_ to strike again.”

“You are not wrong that our people should be involved in investigating this situation.” Normally Soundwave’s stoicism calmed Megatron, but right now it was setting her teeth on edge. “That is why Shockwave is personally assembling a committee to investigate MECH and I’ve secured a guarantee from Prowl and Trailbreaker that one of our people will be in the room during all interrogations of the kidnappers. Additionally, some of our best researchers over at the FBI are aiding in analyzing the crime scene.”

“One of our people is in there? You’ve got to be joking. _I_ need to be there, Soundwave. This is possibly the only opportunity we’ll have to stop these bastards, and because no one but me seems to understand the fucking danger we’re in, they’re going to kill us all!”

“Megatron!” Megatron was startled--she could count on one hand the times' Soundwave had raised her voice. “Stop talking and listen to me. I am very aware of the danger that MECH poses. They tried to kill me and my children. I do not take that, or any of this, lightly.” 

The metal image of the smoking hospital and how small Rumble and Frenzy had been the week after they were born hit Megatron like a punch in the gut. “I’m sorry, I didn’t--”

“None of this is easy. You almost lost someone you care for deeply, and you are furious. You want vengeance. You want to burn MECH to the ground. And we will. But your place right now is not in an interrogation room, it is at that hospital. I should not have to tell you this, Megatron.”

Megatron sunk down onto one of the benches along the edge of the sidewalk. She remembered Soundwave’s steadiness the day after Impactor’s death, when her world had fallen apart, her quiet insistence that Megatron eat, her assurance that Megatron’s shaking hands were normal. “Soundwave, I don’t know if I can do it.”

“You can.”

“How are you so sure?”

“Because when it’s someone you care about, you always find a way.”

“She doesn’t--” Megatron hated how her voice sounded. “I don’t think she wants me there.” 

“Of course she’s going to act like she doesn’t. Starscream wants you to think she’s strong, She always has. But you need to be there anyway.” Soundwave’s voice brooked no arguments. “Now we can continue talking, but with all due respect, I am doing your job as well as my own right now, which means I am very busy.”

Megatron smiled faintly. “When this is over, you’re going to take at least two consecutive days off, all right? Take the kids and go to the beach or the mountains.”

“We can discuss that later.” 

* * *

Thundercracker was standing outside the hospital bathroom when Megatron walked back into the hospital. Her face was turned away from Megatron, and when she looked up, Megatron saw that her eyes were red and puffy. “You’re back.”

“I’m sorry that I left,” Megatron said. The words felt unfamiliar in her mouth. “I don’t always do well with hospitals.”

“That’s fair,” Thundercracker said cooly, wiping her eyes. “I know you were shot, and everything. I guess I was silly to expect you’d be more of a help.” She winced. “I’m sorry, that wasn’t very nice, I just--”

Megatron interrupted. “When was the last time you slept?”

Thundercracker laughed. “God, I--I don’t remember. Skywarp bought this new alarm system and it works, it just... _beeps_ at the most irritating times and it stresses out Buster and it’s _ridiculous_ , I have no reason to be worried for my safety when my sister-in-law’s been _tortured_.” 

She was crying again, and Megatron awkwardly patted her on the shoulder, fishing a handkerchief out of her pocket.

Skywarp walked out of the bathroom, wiping her hands on her purple maternity blouse. She seemed to recognize the situation immediately, which Megatron hadn’t expected. “Oh, TC.” She pulled her in for a hug. “Baby, come here. It’s okay.” 

Megatron felt envy, or something like it in the pit of her stomach as she watched them. Shaking it off, she cleared her throat. “If you two would like to go out for a cup of coffee or a walk, I would be happy to sit with Starscream for a bit.”

Skywarp pulled back, although she kept an arm protectively around Thundercracker’s waist. “Are you sure?”

“I shouldn’t have left earlier--I’d like a chance to apologize and talk to Starscream privately.”

“All right.” Skywarp looked tentative. “Just don’t upset her. She’s been through a lot.” 

“I will do my best.” On an impulse, she fished around in her pocket and handed Skywarp her credit card. “Get the coffee on me.” 

“Oh, that’s not necessary,” Thundercracker said. Her voice was hoarse. 

“I know it’s not. It’s a gesture.” 

Skywarp looked skeptically at the credit card. “That’s not the same as a bribe, is it?”

“If I was going to buy you off, I would do much better than a too-expensive cup of coffee.”

* * *

The hospital room was no less grim. Megatron tried not to look too hard at anything but Starscream. _Starscream wants you to think she’s strong. She always has_.

“You’re back.” Starscream didn’t look at her. 

“I am.” Megatron walked over to the bed, sitting in one of the uncomfortable hospital chairs. “Look at me.”

Starscream met her eyes for a moment, and then looked away. “You said you were glad I was all right.” 

“And I meant it.”

“People keep saying that.” She gestured at the cuts on her face, the bruises on her throat, the bandages around her wrist. “What about this is ‘all right?’”

“Starscream...”

“I can’t even fucking move my other arm, how the hell is any of this ‘all right?’ Is the barometer for ‘all right’ that I didn’t get executed on television?”

“None of this should have happened.” Megatron placed her hand next to Starscream’s on the bed. 

“I know.”

Megatron wanted to grab Starscream’s hand, but moving her hand an inch forward suddenly seemed impossible. Instead, she spoke. “Starscream, I never would have stopped until I found you. I would have crawled over broken glass. I would have ripped Silas’s throat out with my bare hands if that’s what it took.” 

“I heard you worked with Prime,” Starscream said wryly.

“I worked with Prime. And I would do it again.” _For you_. She remembered the smell of Starscream’s perfume in her hospital room the night she had been shot--the only memory she had of a hospital that wasn’t terrible. 

“I have something for you,” Starscream said suddenly. She reached over to a small box on her bedside table and handed it to Megatron. 

“I don’t--”

“Come on, be nice to me.” Starscream gave her the exaggerated puppy-dog eyes that Megatron knew ridiculously well from the times Starscream had done something idiotic at the office and wanted to stop her from yelling. 

“All right, Starscream.” She opened the box and looked inside. For a moment, she didn’t recognize it, but then she remembered the night from a few weeks ago that she’d come to Starscream’s office to talk about a transportation bill. She remembered how warm the office was, how Starscream’s hideous modern couch had been tremendously uncomfortable. She remembered trailing her fingers over Starscream’s back, the feeling of Starscream’s breath on her cheek. It felt like an eternity ago. 

“This is the pin I gave you.” The blade was worn down and it had lost quite a few of its gems. 

Starscream smiled faintly. “It got pretty beat up. But it made a fantastic lockpick.”

“You used this to pick a lock?”

“Yeah. I got out. Only for a little bit, but I managed to grab my phone and I guess...” She paused, looking at the pin. “I guess I got far enough away that the signal connected.” Megatron felt like something was caught in her throat. She wanted to look at Starscream, but she wasn’t sure what would happen if she did.

“Starscream...”

“You don’t have to say anything. I know you hate this kind of stuff.”

Megatron placed her hand over Starscream’s, and after a moment she felt Starscream’s fingers intertwine with hers. “I just wanted to say that you’ve--you’ve done well.” 

Starscream half-laughed, but Megatron could hear the sadness in her voice. “I know.” After a moment, she squeezed Megatron’s hand. 

* * *

“God, I have to pee _again_.”

“You went when we were at the cafe!” 

“I know!” Skywarp rubbed her stomach. “At least the morning sickness isn’t as bad.” She looked over at her wife. “Are you doing any better?”

Thundercracker leaned over to kiss Skywarp on the cheek. “Yes, thanks to you. You’re wonderful, you know that?”

“Hey, it was Megatron’s money.” Skywarp enthusiastically pressed the “up” button on the elevator. “I was just the one who suggested we get gelato.”

“Because you always know what I need.”

“God, TC, stop! My head isn’t going to fit through the elevator door.”

Thundercracker laughed, but then her expression grew more serious. “Do you think Starscream is all right? I know it’s silly, but I didn’t want to leave her with Megatron.”

Skywarp thought about her sister’s hands--her normally perfect manicure was chipped and her fists were clenched so tightly on the thin hospital bed sheet that it looked painful.

“I think Megatron could help? I don’t really know why, but Screamer just seemed upset after Megatron bolted and I thought if I could get them in a room together...”

“Warp, look at you. Relationship counseling?”

“Should I make a career of it?”

“No.”

The hospital room’s door was closed. Skywarp reached for the door handle, but Thundercracker stopped her. “Wait.”

Skywarp’s stomach dropped. “Oh god, did someone take her?”

“Oh no, no. Just--” Thundercracker smiled at her and scooted to the side. “Look through the window.”

Megatron had somehow climbed into the hospital bed without setting off any alarms--a truly astonishing feat. She had wrapped an arm around Starscream’s shoulders, and her blazer was draped over the younger woman’s lap. Starscream’s head was resting on Megatron’s chest, her face was relaxed, and her breathing was even. But Megatron was wide awake. There was something so intimate and protective in how she was looking at Starscream that Skywarp almost felt uncomfortable watching. She cleared her throat, and Megatron looked up. Her expression changed instantly and she gestured for them to come in, but Skywarp shook her head, pulling out her phone. 

<Can you stay with her a little longer?>

Megatron looked down at her phone. A faint smile crossed her face, and she nodded.

“What are you doing?” Thundercracker whispered.

“Being right. It’s kind of my thing.” Skywarp linked arms with her wife. “Let’s go back to the cafe. You can call the office and make sure Rattrap isn’t fucking anything up, and I can eat another panini. Or two.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the last chapter! If you've stuck around until the end, I want to give you a huge thank you, you're an amazing person and I hope you're doing all right with *gestures vaguely* all of this.  
> If this seemed kind of open-ended, it's because I've got plans for a sequel to this that deals directly with the aftermath, but I hope you enjoyed it. <3  
> Also! I was looking at DC on the map to see the places that are around the George Washington University Hospital and it made me really sad to see how many places that were shut down, so I thought I'd shout out a local business I saw in my fic.  
> https://pointchaudcafe.com/  
> If you're in the area and you have a hankering for crepes or paninis, check it out!


End file.
